“I’ll say it again. I’m sorry, but like I said, we have a lot to discuss.”

“I don’t care!” I yell, and I hate that I did that. I don’t raise my voice to my ma. I have way more respect for her than that, but all I see are the tears in Amberlyn’s eyes. I’m pretty sure her first time has been ruined. While a part of me wants to go back in there and take her, I know this can’t be her first time. Closing my eyes, I let out a breath before meeting my ma’s unhappy gaze. “I’m sorry, but Ma, I don’t care about planning shite right now. I want to spend time with my fiancée, who is healthy and alive. Please, give us time to be us.”

“We don’t have time, Declan. It’s coming up very fast,” she says with a shake of her head.

“Ma, please,” I say, rubbing my temples. “You’re driving me mad, for sure.”

She sets me with a look, but before either of us can say anything, the door opens and Amberlyn appears. Her face is bright red, hell, even her skin is glowing, and she doesn’t look my ma in the eyes as she says, “They’re right. We don’t have much time.”

“I understand that, but we’re a bit busy, yeah?”

She looks up at me, and I know we might have been, but we’re not anymore. Which is probably for the best. “We have the rest of our lives to be busy.”

I hold her gaze for a moment and then turn to my ma who is also as red as Amberlyn is. “Ma, we’re coming. Let me get dressed.”

“Grand, thank you.” Thankfully, she leaves, and when Amberlyn goes to pass me, I stop her. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I kiss the side of her mouth.

“You’re not mad?”

She shakes her head. “Mad is the least thing I am. Embarrassed and horny is more like it.”

I smile. “I owe you busy time.”

“You do,” she says with a nod. “Soon, I hope.”

“Very soon.”

And that’s a promise.

Now, I gotta find the time and I gotta make sure the damn door is locked.

“No way!”

I look over at Fiona, a deadpan look on my face. I am still completely embarrassed from the other night. All I see is Mrs. O’Callaghan’s wide eyes and her look of utter shock. I never wanted to look her in the face again, but not even twenty minutes later, I was at the table planning my engagement party. It was easy to say, I could not make eye contact without burning with embarrassment. Ugh. The horror. To top it all off, I have to go wedding dress shopping with her and Lena, along with my aunt and Fiona. I’m so excited to see her, I can’t stand it.

Not.

“I shit you not! I had his dick down my throat, and all of a sudden, ‘Oh, hello, Mrs. O’Callaghan!’”

Falling onto the bar, Fiona loses it. She is laughing so hard, she can’t breathe and her face is turning red.

“I don’t find this funny.”

“Oh my God,” she wheezes, smacking her hand on the bar.

“Don’t laugh, it’s not funny,” I say once more, but she waves me off.

“Don’t look at me, I can’t handle it! Oh my God!” she dissolves in laughter, falling to the floor, holding her gut.

“You’re a bitch,” I say, throwing my towel at her before going to the back to restock the trays. A grin pulls at my lips as I start to fill the trays. It’s not funny, but I love Fiona’s laugh. It’s so loud and obnoxious but totally her. When I hear her come into the kitchen, I drop my grin as I stuff the tray with cherries.

“But really, how does this happen to you? I mean, you can’t get a break. You’re either yawning, people walking in, sleeping, or getting shot.”

I look up at her and she grins, and I smile back. No one has joked about the shooting, but leave it to Fiona to be the first. “Too soon?”

I shake my head. “Not at all.”

“Good, but really, are yous two ever gonna have sex?”

I scoff, shaking my head. It’s been a week since I’ve been alone with Declan, so her question is one I’ve been asking myself a lot lately. I hadn’t been able to talk to Fiona about it because she and Kane went on a holiday together. So we are playing catch-up while we prep. Which is nice as I’ve missed her. “I don’t know. It’s so frustrating. He’s always working now, like hardcore, because everything is getting transferred into his name. And then when I go for dinner, his mom and Lena won’t let me out of their sight. It’s driving me bonkers.”

“Aye, I can understand that,” she says with a nod, taking a knife to cut oranges. “Was what you got good at least?”

I close my eyes, letting out a breath. “I know it was my first time, but my God, he has the mouth of an angel.”

She laughs. “Good, if he likes going between the legs, you’ll never go unsatisfied.”

“Oh, he likes it,” I say with a giggle. “And I liked doing it to him, until his fucking mom walked in.”

“Why didn’t he lock the door?”

I shake my head. “We started making out, and then we were on the bed, so really, no one really thought of the door.”

“That’s crazy.”

“Right?! And he wants me to live there! Are you kidding me? I can’t even get laid because his mom is up my ass all the time.”

She nods, meeting my gaze across the table. “Yeah, I feel ya, but I told ya about this. They have traditions and expectations. All O’Callaghans live in that house. Together.”

I shake my head. “Well, that’s gonna have to change. I don’t want to live with them; I want to live with Declan, by ourselves.”

She shakes her head. “Good luck with that.”

I bite my lip as I move to start cutting up the limes. As the knife slices through each one, I play her words over and over again. Looking up, I ask, “Do you think I’m wrong for not wanting to live there?”

“No,” she says simply. “I wouldn’t want to either, but it’s part of the package, ya know? I’m just worried it will cause problems once ya make you sentiments known is all.”

“Yeah, his mom was irritated that I didn’t want to get married on the O’Callaghan land and that Declan agreed with me.”

She snapped her head up, a look of pure horror on her face. “Fuckin’ hell, Amberlyn! They all get married on that land.”